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Start giftingDick Barton and the Firefly Adventure
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Learn moreA full-cast radio drama from the 1940s starring Douglas Kelly as Dick Barton. Originally produced for Australian radio, Dick Barton and the Firefly Adventure tells of the arrival in Britain of the American master-criminal Ferraro. Operating a violent protection racket, Ferraro extorts money from property owners across the capital. Those who ignore Ferraro's threats see their homes and businesses destroyed. Ferraro's many arson attacks soon earn him a nickname: the Firefly. Can Dick Barton intervene?
Special additional bonus features for this release include:
'The Making of Dick Barton - Special Agent'
An all new specially-produced 50 minute documentary covering the history of 'Dick Barton - Special Agent' - featuring a wealth of clips from the series and archive interviews with the original cast and crew. Other special archive material includes an extract from a recently discovered 1948 BBC radio episode; an out-take from an original 1949 studio recording session; a 1947 Australian radio promotional recording and a number of quotes taken from previously unpublished production paperwork.
'Dick Barton - Special Agent': Episode 100
On 21st February 1947, the BBC broadcast the 100th episode of 'Dick Barton - Special Agent'. It stars the original Barton cast of Noel Johnson, Alex McCrindle and John Mann. It is now the earliest surviving Barton recording in the BBC archives and is included here in full.
Edward J. Mason (1912-1971) was a scriptwriter for radio, television and movies for both the BBC and its rival Radio Luxembourg. He had his first major success in 1947 when the BBC Home Service radio network began airing his British detective serial Dick Barton, which he created with co-writer Geoffrey Webb. This was the first serial to air on the BBC and it continued to be aired until 1951. The BBC replaced Dick Barton with The Archers. Originally another creation of the Mason-Webb team, today it remains as the world's longest-running soap opera on radio. In 1950 and prior to The Archers, Mason also created the radio serials The Lady Craved Excitement and What the Butler Saw, both of which were filmed in that year by Hammer Films. In 1955 Edward J. Mason created another mystery series called Shadow Man for the BBC's English language commercial rival Radio Luxembourg. Shadow Man was sponsored by Stork margarine and it ran on 208 at 8:30 pm on Tuesday evenings.